BORIS Johnson has refused to say whether he agrees that Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross is a “lightweight” politician.
Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg leveled the accusation at Ross last week after he called for Johnson to resign when the PM admitted breaching lockdown rules.
Ross’s call sparked an internal Tory party war, with Scottish MSPs backing their leader in calls for Johnson to stand down, while Westminster Tories took aim at Ross, who is an MP and an MSP, instead.
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During an appearance on Newsnight last week, Rees-Mogg claimed that Scotland Secretary Alister Jack was a “big figure” who supported the Prime Minister.
Jack later claimed he told Ross not to call for the PM’s resignation, and to await the outcome of the Sue Gray inquiry.
And now, the row has made its way to the House of Commons after Labour MP Stephen Kinnock asked the Prime Minister for his view.
During PMQs, where Johnson laughed at SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford as he asked a question and checked the time on his watch, Kinnock said: “Does the Prime Minister agree with the leader of the house that the leader of the Scottish Conservatives is a lightweight?”
Johnson, dodging the question, replied: “Mr Speaker, the Conservative approach to the Union is one that I think is right for our country.
“We want to keep it together and I think Conservatives in Scotland do an excellent job, their stout defence of the Union was repaid at the last election and Labour is increasingly endangering our Union.”
It comes as the Prime Minister's latest excuse over the partygate revelations was that “nobody told me that what we were doing was against the rules” and he believed he was attending a work event.
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And, just before PMQs was set to begin, Red Wall MP for Bury South Christian Wakeford defected to the Labour party over the allegations.
With pressure mounting on Johnson to stand down, Wakeford said the country needs a government that “upholds the highest standards of integrity and probity”.
He told Johnson “both you and the Conservative Party as a whole have shown themselves incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves”.
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